Google Tweaks Algorithm to Push Down Low-Quality SitesGoogle said late Thursday that it had made a major change to its algorithm in an effort to improve the rankings of high-quality Web sites in its search results -- and to reduce the visibility of low-quality sites. While the company did not say so explicitly, the change appears to be directed in part at so-called content farms like eHow and Answerbag, which generate articles based on popular search queries so they will rise to the top of the rankings and attract clicks.

Google Changes How It Ranks Search Results to Spotlight High-Quality SitesBruno Guillard, founder of 1PlusV, talks about the French web publisher's complaint to European Union regulators against Google for refusing to allow so-called vertical search sites to use its advertising service. Guillard speaks from Brussels with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)

Google demotes 'low-quality' websites in search overhaulGoogle is making a "pretty big" change that will demote "low-quality" or "shallow" websites from online search engine results, in a move designed to tackle so-called "content farms".